Fort Worth TX 90-day moratorium process + Data Center Commission (Aug 11, 2026)

Fort Worth City Council unanimous vote, August 11, 2026. Actions: (1) initiated a 90-day moratorium process on data center permits; (2) created an 11-member Data Center & Infrastructure Commission with a policy recommendation mandate; (3) ADOPTED AN ORDINANCE — in force now, independent of the moratorium — requiring every new data center application to produce EVIDENCE OF GRID INTERCONNECTION APPROVAL from the Public Utility Commission of Texas or ERCOT. That requirement attaches at multiple stages of the city's development process: pre-development conferences, platting and replatting, building permits and infrastructure plan reviews. City officials drafted it following Gov. Abbott's 2026-08-03 directive ordering PUCT and ERCOT to conduct a comprehensive verification and audit of all data centers advancing through ERCOT's interconnection process (tracked as Texas Gov. Abbott data center grid-connection audit freeze). THIS IS THE OPERATIVE PART OF THE AUGUST 11 PACKAGE: the moratorium is not yet effective, but the interconnection-evidence ordinance is, and it makes a state-level grid determination a precondition to a city-level land use approval — an uncommon coupling. The moratorium is not yet formally effective — it is a process initiation, not a final enacted moratorium. Commission report expected by November 2026; final council vote and moratorium implementation could occur by February 2027. Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in Texas and county seat of Tarrant County. Note: Texas TRAIGA (HB 149) preempts local AI ordinances but data center land-use and energy moratoriums are distinct from AI-specific ordinances and are generally outside TRAIGA's preemption scope.